DOCSLIB.ORG

Fifty Years of Neuropsychopharmacology

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Fifty Years of Neuropsychopharmacology Z. Lacković Fifty years of neuropsychopharmacology FIFTY YEARS OF NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY Zdravko Lacković Laboratory of Molecular Neuropsihopharmacology, Department of Pharmacology & Croatian Brain Research Institute, University of Zagreb School of Medicine In the fi fty years since the fi rst Pula congress a lot of methodology of reverse pharmacology – instead has changed in neuropsychopharmacology. Granted, of a classic approach, nowadays receptors are more the major groups of psychoactive drugs had already and more often synthesized from the human genome been discovered: neuroleptics, antidepressants, ben- followed by search for their endogenous ligands and zodiazepine anxiolitics, psychostimulants... Neu- possibilities of their pharmacological manipulation. rology was using the basic antiepileptics while, for Th rough this, we now have orexines (hypocretins) example, the treatments for vascular and immuno- as key neurotransmitters of wakefulness. By reverse logical diseases were more expectative. At the time pharmacology we have discovered such receptors as of the fi rst Pula congress in 1960 we had only just the new opioid receptor ORL1 and its endogenous discovered that myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune ligand, nociceptin and fi nally, after several decades disease. It is also the year when dopamine defi ciency of diff erent assumptions, the prolactin-stimulating in the brain of Parkinsonian patients was discovered, a factor. What is especially intriguing and motivating fi nding which was to revolutionize understanding and is the fact that there are still hundreds of G-protein treatment of this disease. Th e last fi fty years have also receptors, nuclear receptors and synaptic receptors seen a proliferation of approaches to therapy and the waiting for researchers to discover their function and success of these medical fi elds has grown considerably. useful implementation through pharmacology. During this time, more than twenty researchers have been awarded the Nobel Prize for research related to Pharmacology in 60’ functioning of the nervous system and have or will have a signifi cant infl uence on the development of Nobel prizes in Pharmacology new drugs. Th e greatest breakthroughs still waiting Fundamental change in conepts: coexistence of- for clinical implementation have been in the fi eld of neurotransmitors, the question what really pharma- basic research. Discoveries of excitotoxicity medi- cological reseptors Endogenous opioids, endozapines, ated by glutamate receptors as well as neurogenesis endocanabinoids in adults are creating brand new hypotheses on the Fundamentaly new reserch strategy: „Reverse pathophysiology of diff erent psychiatric and neuro- pharmacology. Orexins, Prolactin stumulating factor logical diseases ranging from schizophrenia and drug abuse to ALS. However, speaking subjectively, there • 2009 - Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, Jack W. are two developments that had the deepest and stron- Szostak • 2008 - Harald zur Hausen, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Luc gest impact on pharmacology. First was the discovery Montagnier of endogenous opioids based on the inquiry into real • 2007 - Mario R. Capecchi, Sir Martin J. Evans, Oliver Smi- function of diff erent pharmacological receptors in our thies organism. Th is discovery has shown that the so-called • 2006 - Andrew Z. Fire, Craig C. Mello pharmacological receptors did not evolve solely for the • 2005 - Barry J. Marshall, J. Robin Warren • 2004 - Richard Axel, Linda B. Buck purpose of drug-deliverance but that they also have a • 2003 - Paul C. Lauterbur, Sir Peter Mansfi eld physiological purpose in the functioning of an organ- • 2002 - Sydney Brenner, H. Robert Horvitz, John E. Sulston ism. Th e second important event was the discovery • 2001 - Leland H. Hartwell, Tim Hunt, Sir Paul Nurse 62 Acta Clin Croat, Vol. 49, (Suppl) No. 2, 2010 Z. Lacković Fifty years of neuropsychopharmacology • 2000 - Arvid Carlsson, Paul Greengard, Eric R. Kandel • 1980 - Baruj Benacerraf, Jean Dausset, George D. Snell • 1999 - Günter Blobel • 1979 - Allan M. Cormack, Godfrey N. Hounsfi eld • 1998 - Robert F. Furchgott, Louis J. Ignarro, Ferid Murad • 1978 - Werner Arber, Daniel Nathans, Hamilton O. Smith • 1997 - Stanley B. Prusiner • 1977 - Roger Guillemin, Andrew V. Schally, Rosalyn Yalow • 1996 - Peter C. Doherty, Rolf M. Zinkernagel • 1976 - Baruch S. Blumberg, D. Carleton Gajdusek • 1995 - Edward B. Lewis, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Eric • 1975 - David Baltimore, Renato Dulbecco, Howard M. Temin F. Wieschaus • 1974 - Albert Claude, Christian de Duve, George E. Palade • 1994 - Alfred G. Gilman, Martin Rodbell • 1973 - Karl von Frisch, Konrad Lorenz, Nikolaas Tinbergen • 1993 - Richard J. Roberts, Phillip A. Sharp • 1972 - Gerald M. Edelman, Rodney R. Porter • 1992 - Edmond H. Fischer, Edwin G. Krebs • 1971 - Earl W. Sutherland, Jr. • 1991 - Erwin Neher, Bert Sakmann • 1970 - Sir Bernard Katz, Ulf von Euler, Julius Axelrod • 1990 - Joseph E. Murray, E. Donnall Th omas • 1969 - Max Delbrück, Alfred D. Hershey, Salvador E. Luria • 1989 - J. Michael Bishop, Harold E. Varmus • 1968 - Robert W. Holley, H. Gobind Khorana, Marshall W. • 1988 - Sir James W. Black, Gertrude B. Elion, George H. Nirenberg Hitchings • 1967 - Ragnar Granit, Haldan K. Hartline, George Wald • 1987 - Susumu Tonegawa • 1966 - Peyton Rous, Charles B. Huggins • 1986 - Stanley Cohen, Rita Levi-Montalcini • 1965 - François Jacob, André Lwoff , Jacques Monod • 1985 - Michael S. Brown, Joseph L. Goldstein • 1964 - Konrad Bloch, Feodor Lynen • 1984 - Niels K. Jerne, Georges J.F. Köhler, César Milstein • 1963 - Sir John Eccles, Alan L. Hodgkin, Andrew F. Huxley • 1983 - Barbara McClintock • 1962 - Francis Crick, James Watson, Maurice Wilkins • 1982 - Sune K. Bergström, Bengt I. Samuelsson, John R. Vane • 1961 - Georg von Békésy • 1981 - Roger W. Sperry, David H. Hubel, Torsten N. Wiesel • 1960 - Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Peter Medawar Acta Clin Croat, Vol. 49, (Suppl) No. 2, 2010 63.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • RANDY SCHEKMAN Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, USA
    GENES AND PROTEINS THAT CONTROL THE SECRETORY PATHWAY Nobel Lecture, 7 December 2013 by RANDY SCHEKMAN Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, USA. Introduction George Palade shared the 1974 Nobel Prize with Albert Claude and Christian de Duve for their pioneering work in the characterization of organelles interrelated by the process of secretion in mammalian cells and tissues. These three scholars established the modern field of cell biology and the tools of cell fractionation and thin section transmission electron microscopy. It was Palade’s genius in particular that revealed the organization of the secretory pathway. He discovered the ribosome and showed that it was poised on the surface of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) where it engaged in the vectorial translocation of newly synthesized secretory polypeptides (1). And in a most elegant and technically challenging investigation, his group employed radioactive amino acids in a pulse-chase regimen to show by autoradiograpic exposure of thin sections on a photographic emulsion that secretory proteins progress in sequence from the ER through the Golgi apparatus into secretory granules, which then discharge their cargo by membrane fusion at the cell surface (1). He documented the role of vesicles as carriers of cargo between compartments and he formulated the hypothesis that membranes template their own production rather than form by a process of de novo biogenesis (1). As a university student I was ignorant of the important developments in cell biology; however, I learned of Palade’s work during my first year of graduate school in the Stanford biochemistry department.
    [Show full text]
  • Alfred Nobel
    www.bibalex.org/bioalex2004conf The BioVisionAlexandria 2004 Conference Newsletter November 2003 Volume 1, Issue 2 BioVisionAlexandria ALFRED NOBEL 2004 aims to celebrate the The inventor, the industrialist outstanding scientists and scholars, in a he Nobel Prize is one of the highest distinctions recognized, granting its winner century dominated by instant fame. However, many do not know the interesting history and background technological and T that led to this award. scientific revolutions, through its It all began with a chemist, known as Alfred Nobel, born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1833. Nobel Day on 3 April Alfred Nobel moved to Russia when he was eight, where his father, Immanuel Nobel, 2004! started a successful mechanical workshop. He provided equipment for the Russian Army and designed naval mines, which effectively prevented the British Royal Navy from moving within firing range of St. Petersburg during the Crimean War. Immanuel Nobel was also a pioneer in the manufacture of arms, and in designing steam engines. INSIDE Scientific awards .........3 Immanuel’s success enabled him to Alfred met Ascanio Sobrero, the Italian Confirmed laureates ....4 Lady laureates ............7 provide his four sons with an excellent chemist who had invented Nitroglycerine education in natural sciences, languages three years earlier. Nitroglycerine, a and literature. Alfred, at an early age, highly explosive liquid, was produced by acquired extensive literary knowledge, mixing glycerine with sulfuric and nitric mastering many foreign languages. His acid. It was an invention that triggered a Nobel Day is interest in science, especially chemistry, fascination in the young scientist for many dedicated to many of was also apparent.
    [Show full text]
  • Francois Jacob Memorial
    RETROSPECTIVE RETROSPECTIVE Francois Jacob memorial Arthur B. Pardee1 Department of Adult Oncology, Dana-Farber Institute, Boston, MA 02115 Dr. Francois Jacob is one of a handful of the DNA would integrate into the bacterial chro- 20th century’smostdistinguishedlifescien- mosome and remain dormant or, at other tists. His research with Dr. Jacques Monod, times, would kill the cell. like that of Watson and Crick, provided the Jacob’s next major contribution, in collab- foundations for understanding mechanisms oration with Dr. Jacques Monod, was to in- of genetic regulation of life processes such vestigate how a gene is regulated. Remark- as cell differentiation and defects in diseases. ably, native E. coli synthesize β-galactosidase Jacob joined the College de France in 1964 only when lactose is available. Some mutated and shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology bacteria can make the enzyme in the absence or Medicine 1965 with Jacques Monod of inducer. Monod’s initial idea was that and Andre Lwoff. He was elected to the these constitutive bacteria activate the gene National Academy of Sciences (NAS) USA by synthesizing an intracellular lactose-like in 1969. inducer molecule. Jacob was born in 1920 in a French Jewish To investigate this model, interrupted family; his grandfather was a four-star gen- mating was applied to bring the β-galactosi- eral. He began to study medicine before dase gene of a donor bacterium into a consti- World War II, in which he served as a mil- tutive receptor. According to the induction itary officer in the Free French Army and was model, the mated cell should produce en- badly wounded in an air raid.
    [Show full text]
  • Insight from the Sociology of Science
    CHAPTER 7 INSIGHT FROM THE SOCIOLOGY OF SCIENCE Science is What Scientists Do It has been argued a number of times in previous chapters that empirical adequacy is insufficient, in itself, to establish the validity of a theory: consistency with the observable ‘facts’ does not mean that a theory is true,1 only that it might be true, along with other theories that may also correspond with the observational data. Moreover, empirical inadequacy (theories unable to account for all the ‘facts’ in their domain) is frequently ignored by individual scientists in their fight to establish a new theory or retain an existing one. It has also been argued that because experi- ments are conceived and conducted within a particular theoretical, procedural and instrumental framework, they cannot furnish the theory-free data needed to make empirically-based judgements about the superiority of one theory over another. What counts as relevant evidence is, in part, determined by the theoretical framework the evidence is intended to test. It follows that the rationality of science is rather different from the account we usually provide for students in school. Experiment and observation are not as decisive as we claim. Additional factors that may play a part in theory acceptance include the following: intuition, aesthetic considerations, similarity and consistency among theories, intellectual fashion, social and economic influences, status of the proposer(s), personal motives and opportunism. Although the evidence may be inconclusive, scientists’ intuitive feelings about the plausibility or aptness of particular ideas will make it appear convincing. The history of science includes many accounts of scientists ‘sticking to their guns’ concerning a well-loved theory in the teeth of evidence to the contrary, and some- times in the absence of any evidence at all.
    [Show full text]
  • The Joys and Burdens of Our Heroes 12/05/2021
    More Fun Than Fun: The Joys and Burdens of Our Heroes 12/05/2021 An iconic photo of Konrad Lorenz with his favourite geese. Photo: Willamette Biology, CC BY-SA 2.0 This article is part of the ‘More Fun Than Fun‘ column by Prof Raghavendra Gadagkar. He will explore interesting research papers or books and, while placing them in context, make them accessible to a wide readership. RAGHAVENDRA GADAGKAR Among the books I read as a teenager, two completely changed my life. One was The Double Helix by Nobel laureate James D. Watson. This book was inspiring at many levels and instantly got me addicted to molecular biology. The other was King Solomon’s Ring by Konrad Lorenz, soon to be a Nobel laureate. The study of animal behaviour so charmingly and unforgettably described by Lorenz kindled in me an eternal love for the subject. The circumstances in which I read these two books are etched in my mind and may have partly contributed to my enthusiasm for them and their subjects. The Double Helix was first published in London in 1968 when I was a pre-university student (equivalent to 11th grade) at St Joseph’s college in Bangalore and was planning to apply for the prestigious National Science Talent Search Scholarship. By then, I had heard of the discovery of the double-helical structure of DNA and its profound implications. I was also tickled that this momentous discovery was made in 1953, the year of my birth. I saw the announcement of Watson’s book on the notice board in the British Council Library, one of my frequent haunts.
    [Show full text]
  • Eric Kandel Form in Which This Information Is Stored
    RESEARCH I NEWS pendent, this system would be expected to [2] HEEsch and J E Bums. Distance estimation work quite well, since the new recruit bees by foraging honeybees, The Journal ofExperi­ mental Biology, Vo1.199, pp. 155-162, 1996. tend to take the same route as the experi­ [3] M V Srinivasan, S W Zhang, M Lehrer, and T enced scout bee. What dOJhe ants do when S Collett, Honeybee Navigation en route to they cover similarly several kilometres on the goal: Visual flight control and odometry, foot to look for food? Preliminary evidence The Journal ofExperimental Biology, Vol. 199, pp. 237-244, 1996. indicates that they don't use an odometer but [4] M V Srinivasan, S W Zhang, M Altwein, and instead might count steps! J Tautz, Honeybee Navigation: Nature and Calibration of the Odometer, Science, Vol. Suggested Reading 287, pp. 851-853, 1996. [1] Karl von Frisch, The dance language and OT­ Moushumi Sen Sarma, Centre for Ecological Sci­ ientation of bees, Harvard Univ. Press, Cam­ ences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, bridge, MA, USA, 1993. India. Email: [email protected] Learning from a Sea Snail: modify future behaviour, then memory is the Eric Kandel form in which this information is stored. Together, they represent one of the most valuable and powerful adaptations ever to Rohini Balakrishnan have evolved in nervous systems, for they In the year 2000, Eric Kandel shared the allow the future to access the past, conferring Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicinel flexibility to behaviour and improving the with two other neurobiologists: Arvid chances of survival in unpredictable, rapidly Carlsson and Paul Greengard.
    [Show full text]
  • 書 名 等 発行年 出版社 受賞年 備考 N1 Ueber Das Zustandekommen Der
    書 名 等 発行年 出版社 受賞年 備考 Ueber das Zustandekommen der Diphtherie-immunitat und der Tetanus-Immunitat bei thieren / Emil Adolf N1 1890 Georg thieme 1901 von Behring N2 Diphtherie und tetanus immunitaet / Emil Adolf von Behring und Kitasato 19-- [Akitomo Matsuki] 1901 Malarial fever its cause, prevention and treatment containing full details for the use of travellers, University press of N3 1902 1902 sportsmen, soldiers, and residents in malarious places / by Ronald Ross liverpool Ueber die Anwendung von concentrirten chemischen Lichtstrahlen in der Medicin / von Prof. Dr. Niels N4 1899 F.C.W.Vogel 1903 Ryberg Finsen Mit 4 Abbildungen und 2 Tafeln Twenty-five years of objective study of the higher nervous activity (behaviour) of animals / Ivan N5 Petrovitch Pavlov ; translated and edited by W. Horsley Gantt ; with the collaboration of G. Volborth ; and c1928 International Publishing 1904 an introduction by Walter B. Cannon Conditioned reflexes : an investigation of the physiological activity of the cerebral cortex / by Ivan Oxford University N6 1927 1904 Petrovitch Pavlov ; translated and edited by G.V. Anrep Press N7 Die Ätiologie und die Bekämpfung der Tuberkulose / Robert Koch ; eingeleitet von M. Kirchner 1912 J.A.Barth 1905 N8 Neue Darstellung vom histologischen Bau des Centralnervensystems / von Santiago Ramón y Cajal 1893 Veit 1906 Traité des fiévres palustres : avec la description des microbes du paludisme / par Charles Louis Alphonse N9 1884 Octave Doin 1907 Laveran N10 Embryologie des Scorpions / von Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov 1870 Wilhelm Engelmann 1908 Immunität bei Infektionskrankheiten / Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov ; einzig autorisierte übersetzung von Julius N11 1902 Gustav Fischer 1908 Meyer Die experimentelle Chemotherapie der Spirillosen : Syphilis, Rückfallfieber, Hühnerspirillose, Frambösie / N12 1910 J.Springer 1908 von Paul Ehrlich und S.
    [Show full text]
  • Die Woche Spezial
    In cooperation with DIE WOCHE SPEZIAL >> Autographs>vs.>#NobelSelfie Special >> Big>Data>–>not>a>big>deal,> Edition just>another>tool >> Why>Don’t>Grasshoppers> Catch>Colds? SCIENCE SUMMIT The>64th>Lindau>Nobel>Laureate>Meeting> devoted>to>Physiology>and>Medicine More than 600 young scientists came to Lindau to meet 37 Nobel laureates CAREER WONGSANIT > Women>to>Women: SUPHAKIT > / > Science>and>Family FOTOLIA INFLAMMATION The>Stress>of>Ageing > FLASHPICS > / > MEETINGS > FOTOLIA LAUREATE > CANCER RESEARCH NOBEL > LINDAU > / > J.>Michael>Bishop>and GÄRTNER > FLEMMING > JUAN > / the>Discovery>of>the>first> > CHRISTIAN FOTOLIA Human>Oncogene EDITORIAL IMPRESSUM Chefredakteur: Prof. Dr. Carsten Könneker (v.i.S.d.P.) Dear readers, Redaktionsleiter: Dr. Daniel Lingenhöhl Redaktion: Antje Findeklee, Jan Dönges, Dr. Jan Osterkamp where>else>can>aspiring>young>scientists> Ständige Mitarbeiter: Lars Fischer Art Director Digital: Marc Grove meet>the>best>researchers>of>the>world> Layout: Oliver Gabriel Schlussredaktion: Christina Meyberg (Ltg.), casually,>and>discuss>their>research,>or>their> Sigrid Spies, Katharina Werle Bildredaktion: Alice Krüßmann (Ltg.), Anke Lingg, Gabriela Rabe work>–>or>pressing>global>problems?>Or> Verlag: Spektrum der Wissenschaft Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Slevogtstraße 3–5, 69126 Heidelberg, Tel. 06221 9126-600, simply>discuss>soccer?>Probably>the>best> Fax 06221 9126-751; Amtsgericht Mannheim, HRB 338114, UStd-Id-Nr. DE147514638 occasion>is>the>annual>Lindau>Nobel>Laure- Geschäftsleitung: Markus Bossle, Thomas Bleck Marketing und Vertrieb: Annette Baumbusch (Ltg.) Leser- und Bestellservice: Helga Emmerich, Sabine Häusser, ate>Meeting>in>the>lovely>Bavarian>town>of> Ute Park, Tel. 06221 9126-743, E-Mail: [email protected] Lindau>on>Lake>Constance. Die Spektrum der Wissenschaft Verlagsgesellschaft mbH ist Kooperati- onspartner des Nationalen Instituts für Wissenschaftskommunikation Daniel>Lingenhöhl> GmbH (NaWik).
    [Show full text]
  • Lecture Program
    EARL W. SUTHERLAND LECTURE EARL W. SUTHERLAND LECTURE The Earl W. Sutherland Lecture Series was established by the SPONSORED BY: Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics in 1997 DEPARTMENT OF MOLECULAR PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOPHYSICS to honor Dr. Sutherland, a former member of this department and winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. This series highlights important advances in cell signaling. ROBERT J. LEFKOWITZ, MD NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY, 2012 SPEAKERS IN THIS SERIES HAVE INCLUDED: SEVEN TRANSMEMBRANE RECEPTORS Edmond H. Fischer (1997) Alfred G. Gilman (1999) Ferid Murad (2001) Louis J. Ignarro (2003) MARCH 31, 2016 Paul Greengard (2007) 4:00 P.M. 208 LIGHT HALL Eric Kandel (2009) Roger Tsien (2011) Michael S. Brown (2013) 867-2923-Institution-Discovery Lecture Series-Lefkowitz-BK-CH.indd 1 3/11/16 9:39 AM EARL W. SUTHERLAND, 1915-1974 ROBERT J. LEFKOWITZ, MD JAMES B. DUKE PROFESSOR, Earl W. Sutherland grew up in Burlingame, Kansas, a small farming community DUKE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER that nourished his love for the outdoors and fishing, which he retained throughout INVESTIGATOR, HOWARD HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE his life. He graduated from Washburn College in 1937 and then received his MEMBER, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES M.D. from Washington University School of Medicine in 1942. After serving as a MEMBER, INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE medical officer during World War II, he returned to Washington University to train NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY, 2012 with Carl and Gerty Cori. During those years he was influenced by his interactions with such eminent scientists as Louis Leloir, Herman Kalckar, Severo Ochoa, Arthur Kornberg, Christian deDuve, Sidney Colowick, Edwin Krebs, Theodore Robert J.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction and Historical Perspective
    Chapter 1 Introduction and Historical Perspective “ Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. ” modified by the developmental history of the organism, Theodosius Dobzhansky its physiology – from cellular to systems levels – and by the social and physical environment. Finally, behaviors are shaped through evolutionary forces of natural selection OVERVIEW that optimize survival and reproduction ( Figure 1.1 ). Truly, the study of behavior provides us with a window through Behavioral genetics aims to understand the genetic which we can view much of biology. mechanisms that enable the nervous system to direct Understanding behaviors requires a multidisciplinary appropriate interactions between organisms and their perspective, with regulation of gene expression at its core. social and physical environments. Early scientific The emerging field of behavioral genetics is still taking explorations of animal behavior defined the fields shape and its boundaries are still being defined. Behavioral of experimental psychology and classical ethology. genetics has evolved through the merger of experimental Behavioral genetics has emerged as an interdisciplin- psychology and classical ethology with evolutionary biol- ary science at the interface of experimental psychology, ogy and genetics, and also incorporates aspects of neuro- classical ethology, genetics, and neuroscience. This science ( Figure 1.2 ). To gain a perspective on the current chapter provides a brief overview of the emergence of definition of this field, it is helpful
    [Show full text]
  • Quiet Debut'' of the Double Helix: a Bibliometric and Methodological
    Journal of the History of Biology Ó Springer 2009 DOI 10.1007/s10739-009-9183-2 Revisiting the ‘‘Quiet Debut’’ of the Double Helix: A Bibliometric and Methodological note on the ‘‘Impact’’ of Scientific Publications YVES GINGRAS De´partement d’histoire Universite´ du Que´bec a` Montre´al C.P. 8888, Suc. Centre-Ville Montreal, QC H3C-3P8 Canada E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. The object of this paper is two-fold: first, to show that contrary to what seem to have become a widely accepted view among historians of biology, the famous 1953 first Nature paper of Watson and Crick on the structure of DNA was widely cited – as compared to the average paper of the time – on a continuous basis from the very year of its publication and over the period 1953–1970 and that the citations came from a wide array of scientific journals. A systematic analysis of the bibliometric data thus shows that Watson’s and Crick’s paper did in fact have immediate and long term impact if we define ‘‘impact’’ in terms of comparative citations with other papers of the time. In this precise sense it did not fall into ‘‘relative oblivion’’ in the scientific community. The second aim of this paper is to show, using the case of the reception of the Watson–Crick and Jacob–Monod papers as concrete examples, how large scale bibliometric data can be used in a sophisticated manner to provide information about the dynamic of the scientific field as a whole instead of limiting the analysis to a few major actors and generalizing the result to the whole community without further ado.
    [Show full text]
  • Five Great Ideas of Biology
    GREATGREAT IDEASIDEAS OFOF BIOLOGYBIOLOGY Paul Nurse KITP Public Lecture, Feb 24, 2010 THETHE CELLCELL The basic unit of life ROBERTROBERT HOOKEHOOKE’’SS MICROSCOPEMICROSCOPE Cork Image: Past Present STEMSTEM IMAGES:IMAGES: PASTPAST ANDAND PRESENTPRESENT Nehemiah Grew (1682) ANTONIANTONI VANVAN LEEUWENHOEKLEEUWENHOEK MICROORGANISMSMICROORGANISMS VANVAN LEEUWENHOEK?LEEUWENHOEK? THEODORTHEODOR SCHWANNSCHWANN “We have seen that all organisms are composed of essentially like parts, namely, of cells.” (1839) RUDOLFRUDOLF VIRCHOWVIRCHOW “Every animal appears as a sum of vital units, each of which bears in itself the complete characteristics of life.” (1858) CELLCELL Rockefeller Nobel Prize Winners in Cell Biology George E. Palade (1974) Christian de Duve (1974) Albert Claude (1974) Günter Blobel (1999) MAMMALIANMAMMALIAN EMBRYOEMBRYO SPERMSPERM ANDAND EGGEGG THETHE CELLCELL The basic unit of life Underpins all reproduction and development Stem cells THETHE GENEGENE Basis of heredity GREGORGREGOR MENDELMENDEL MENDELMENDEL’’SS GARDENGARDEN PEASPEAS PEASPEAS 1919TH CENTURYCENTURY CHROMOSOMESCHROMOSOMES EDOUARDEDOUARD VANVAN BENEDENBENEDEN’’SS NEMATODENEMATODE CHROMOSOMESCHROMOSOMES PNEUMOCOCCUSPNEUMOCOCCUS Avery, MacLeod and McCarty, Rockefeller University (1944) DNADNA MOLECULEMOLECULE CENTRALCENTRAL DOGMADOGMA THETHE GENEGENE Basis of heredity Genotype to phenotype Implications for what we are EVOLUTIONEVOLUTION BYBY NATURALNATURAL SELECTIONSELECTION Life evolves Mechanism of natural selection ERASMUSERASMUS ANDAND CHARLESCHARLES DARWINDARWIN
    [Show full text]